Worrying About Mon Amis In Weird Southern Weather

I can't believe! was a common expression when we called Opelousas, Louisiana home in the mid-1980s while serving as sports editor for The Opelousas Daily World.

Am sure that phrase is being uttered over and over again by our Cajun friends in Lafayette, Opelousas, Port Barre, Mamou, Eunice and all points around the area known as Acadiana.

Snow....well, more accurately for Cajuns, sneaux, is a rare thing in the bayous. My thoughts are with mon amis (my friends) as they face this.

Ulysse reports Opelousas tied a record with 9 inches of the white stuff. And this morning, the temperature there was 2 above, also matching a record. Rich in Port Barre wonders how us Yankees survive year after year. And Tom said he's got to hunker down in Lafayette, perhaps for days, noting that Vermillion Parish (their version of counties) was without power affecting over 2,000 people.

Trust me, the houses down that way are NOT set up for that kind of cold. Lots of folks had pipes burst when we saw temps drop to single digits back in 1985. Am sure more will follow that. Plus folks desperate to heat their homes have been known to bring their grills into the house for a heat source. NOT a good idea.

Meanwhile, here at home we're nearly 20 inches BEHIND a normal snow fall, though we are getting a bit this morning. At least the severe cold is behind us for now. When you own an Alaskan Malamute who loves the cold and walking in it, those trips out in sub, sub zero temps (and wind chills in the -20 and -30 range) prove a challenge no matter how bundled up one gets.

Let's Face It, We Packer Fans Are Spoiled

Waited a bit to put the wraps on another Green Bay Packer season, one that ended with a frustrating three-game losing streak that included being bounced from the playoffs by the Philadelphia Eagles, 22-10.

We're spoiled here in PackerNation. We expect to be in the playoffs, challenging for a Super Bowl berth, year in and year out. The franchise has made 37 post-season appearances, the most in the NFL, along with it's 13 league championships.

This team was, for the second straight season, the YOUNGEST in the NFL. It's time to get off that merry-go-round and have some veteran stability -- despite the strength of two recent drafts.

Let's see. The team went 0-7 (counting playoffs) against the Eagles-Lions-Vikings. Their six regular season losses on the way to an 11-6 record were by a total of 24 points, Toss out the ugly 10-point loss to Detroit in early November, and that's five defeats by just 14 points.

In every game, it seems, but not quite good enough to hold on.

With the Packers finally having some cap space room, this may well be the year they go heavy in the free agent market. They added two crucial pieces last year in running back Josh Jacobs and free safety Xavier McKinney. Both made the All-Pro team and added leadership on both sides of the ball.

Areas to shop in? Wide receiver, defensive back and defensive line.

Why wide receiver? Christian Watson, talented as all get-out, can't stay on the field. He tore up a knee in the last regular season game and will be on the shelf, probably all of 2025, the last year of his current four-year rookie deal. Defensive back? Jaire Alexander is another talented guy who can't stay on the field. Time to move on from him as well.

For those who have jumped off the bandwagon and called for Coach Matt Lafleur to be fired and quarterback Jordan Love to be benched....well, a hearty Bronx Cheer goes your way. All Lafleur has done is get the team to the playoffs in five of six seasons, winning well over 60 games in the process. 

Playoff success will come with a team more seasoned and ready to go.

And perhaps with Love, our expectations got a little too high after last season's playoff run down the stretch. He might be a fifth-year pro, but still only has two seasons as a starter. Jury is still out on him. And a healthy Love will make a difference. Was no secret he was nicked up through much of the year.

The college national championship game is tonight, with Notre Dame taking on THE Ohio State. Not a fan of either squad, truth be told. Have hated the Whining Irish since the 1960s, for various reasons. Hoping for a good game, but think Ohio State is the more talented squad and should win -- if Coach Ryan Day can get out of his own way, that is. The OSU head man has a tendency to muck it up in big games. Will this be one of them?

As for the NFL conference title games: would like to see Buffalo stop Kansas City (if only the officials let normal play go and treat KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes like the 31 other league QBs). Also think Philadelphia holds home court and stops the Commanders.

That brings about a Bills-Eagles matchup in Super Bowl LIX. Should be entertaining

Saying Goodbye To A Wisconsin Treasure

 Got the news this morning that Mr. Baseball, Bob Uecker, had passed away at age 90.

Doesn't seem possible. Thought he would just keep going forever.

Milwaukee Brewer baseball broadcasts will never be the same. Uecker called games since 1971, through the bad times and the good times and everything in between. Granted, he reduced his workload to home games, and last summer occasional  home games. But he was still entertaining us with stories to the end of the season.

Maybe he didn't give the score as often as you wanted. Maybe you wondered the purpose of the stories. But it was pure Uecker each and every game.

He built a national audience via 100 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He had a successful run with six seasons on an ABC comedy ("Mr. Belvedere"). He stole the show as Harry Doyle in the movie "Major League" -- set in Cleveland but filmed in Milwaukee.

Uecker had many opportunities to leave, but CHOSE to stay in Wisconsin, working in his home town.

We all have Uecker stories or memories. When you could still do it, got him a note while at the old Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis requesting a shout-out to my Grandpa Otto, who always listened to the games. Grandpa was thrilled by it, telling people that he sometimes nodded off during the games, but was awake when he heard his name "from the ballpark!"

Picked up a paperback copy of Uecker's autobiography, Catcher In The Wry, while in college. Years (and years) later, mailed it to him to be signed and thought I would never see it again. Yet it came back with his autograph.

Brewer fans, and even non-fans, lost a Wisconsin treasure today. There will simply never be another like him.

RIP, Ueck. Thanks for the memories